Globird Energy

Energy

Concessions

Energy Concessions

You may be entitled to a concession on your energy bill.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) offers a variety of concessions and benefits to eligible cardholders to assist low-income Victorians with their energy bills. If you have a relevant concession card, you may be eligible for one of these concessions. To receive concession, the account must be in the name of the concession cardholder and must be the main principal place of residence.

For more information contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free) or visit; https://services.dhhs.vic.gov.au/concessions-and-benefits

For information about what concessions, you are entitled to. Click here

Eligible concession cards

To be eligible, cardholders must hold one of the following cards:

  • Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) issued by Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
  • Health Care Card (HCC) issued by Centrelink
  • Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card

Ineligible concession cards

The following issued cards are not eligible for concessions:

  • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
  • Victorian Seniors Card
  • “CA” (Carer Allowance) Health Card
  • “FO” (Foster Care) Health Care Card
  • Veterans Affairs White Card for Specific Conditions
  • Veteran Affairs Gold Card Department

This page contains information about the following concessions:

  • Life Support Concession
  • Medical Cooling Concession
  • Service to Property Charge Concession
  • Controlled Load Electricity Concession
  • Annual Electricity Concession
  • Excess Electricity Concession
  • Winter Gas Concession
  • Excess Gas Concession
  • Transfer Fee Waiver Concession
  • Utility Relief Grant Scheme

The Life Support Concession

The Life Support Concession provides a quarterly discount on electricity where a household member uses an eligible life support machine. This concession is available to both renters and homeowners all year round.

For electricity bills, the discount is equal to the cost of 1,880 kilowatt hours (470 kilowatt hours per quarter) of electricity used each year.

Qualifying machines

Qualifying machines are those that use at least 1,880 kilowatt hours per annum. Machines already approved are:

  • Intermittent peritoneal dialysis machines
  • Oxygen concentrators
  • Haemodialysis machines
  • Other machines as approved by a supervising officer at the department.

Non qualifying machines

  • Continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) machines
  • Bi-pap machines
  • Ventilators
  • Ventolin nebulisers
  • Humidifiers

For other machines, please contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free) to discuss your application.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Download the PDF application form from the bottom of this page

The application form needs to be completed and signed by your doctor, nurse or hospital social worker confirming your use of a life support machine.

Once completed, forward the form to GloBird by either Email or Post and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink, when confirmed we will apply the discount to your bill.

Medical cooling concessions

The Medical Cooling Concession provides a 17.5 per cent discount on summer electricity costs for cardholders where a member of the family has a medical condition that affects the body’s ability to regulate temperature. This concession is available from 1 November to 30 April each year.

The concession is given in addition to the Annual Electricity Concession.

Qualifying conditions

  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Lymphoedema
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Post-polio syndrome/poliomyelitis
  • Motor neurone disease

Applications for other conditions must be approved by the Department of Human Services.
Send the completed form to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Concessions Unit
GPO Box 4057
Melbourne
VIC 3001

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free)
Download the PDF application form from the bottom of this page

The application form needs to be completed and signed by your doctor confirming your medical condition.

Once completed, forward the form to GloBird by either Email or Post and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink, when confirmed we will apply the discount to your bill.

The Service to Property Charge Concession

The service to property charge concession provides a discount on the electricity service charge where a household has very low electricity usage. The usage charge must be less than the service charge. The discount reduces the service charge to the cost of the total electricity usage for the billing period. This concession is available all year round.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 133 456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

The Controlled Load Electricity Concession

The Controlled Load Electricity Concession provides a 13 per cent discount on controlled load usage charges. The concession is only available to concession cardholders who are charged a controlled load tariff for separately metered electric hot water or slab heating. These households receive what is known as ‘a controlled load’ or ‘dedicated circuit tariff’. Households must have a dual element electricity meter or dual element smart meter to be eligible for the Controlled Load Electricity Concession.

This concession was previously called the Off Peak Electricity Concession and has been renamed to make it clear that it is only available to those household that access controlled load tariffs for separately metered electric hot water or slab heating.
The concession is applied on bills issued throughout the year.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 133 456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

The Annual Electricity Concession

The Annual Electricity Concession is available to help ease cost of living pressures by providing concession cardholders with a discount of 17.5% off household electricity bills. The concession applies to electricity costs all year round and is calculated based on the remaining account balance once any discounts and/or solar credits have been applied.

The Commonwealth compensation represents a subsidy of $171.60 for electricity across the year. So for a concession cardholder’s annual electricity bill, the State Government concession will not apply to the first $171.60.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 133 456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

Excess Electricity Concession

Is available to customers whose Annual Electricity Concession exceeds the trigger point for the annual period (1 Dec – 30 Nov). If this is required for your account, we’ll send you the required application form.

This is simply an extension to your existing Annual Electricity Concession

If you receive the Life support concession or the Medical cooling concession you will be automatically eligible to receive the Excess Electricity Concession and are not required to lodge an application form.

Winter Gas Concession

Domestic mains gas usage and service costs. The concession is available over the winter period of 1 May to 31 October each year.

Excess Gas Concession

Is available to customers whose winter gas bills exceeds the trigger point for the period (1 May – 31 Oct). If this is required for your account, we’ll send you the required application form.

This is simply an extension to your existing Winter Gas Concession.

Transfer Fee Waive concession

The Electricity Transfer Fee Waive concession waives the fee that is normally payable to electricity retailers when eligible concession cardholders move to a new house.

Utility Relief Grant Scheme

The Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS) provides assistance to low-income households in a financial crisis who aren’t able to pay for a utility account.

For more information, and to check your eligibility, visit the Victorian Government’s Utility Relief Grant and Non-Mains Utility Relief Grant schemes web page.

You could also contact us on 133 456 to find out if you meet the criteria and ask about the Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS). Our team will be happy to help you apply for the scheme.

Medical Cooling

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Life Support

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Globird Energy Hardship Policy Introduction GloBird Energy understands that electricity is an essential service and that some of our residential customers may on occasion fall into financial hardship. When this occurs, we prefer to work with those customers on an individual basis to see how we can assist them to find ways to repay and… Read More

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment offers a variety of concessions and benefits to eligible cardholders. If you have a relevant concession card, you may be eligible for one of these concessions. Your name must be on the energy account with the concession card details, and be for your principal place of residence.

What concessions are there in NSW?

Gas Rebate is applied as a daily amount on your gas bill. To be eligible you must hold either:

  • A Pensioner Concession Card from the Department of Human Services (formerly Centrelink) or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; or
  • A Health Care Card from the Department of Human Services (formerly Centrelink); or
  • Gold Card from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs marked with:
  • Totally and Permanently Incapacitated or
  • Disability Pension or
  • War Widow or War Widower Pension

Your name must be on the gas account for supply of natural gas to your principal place of residence. For more information about the NSW Gas Rebate, please visit www.nsw.gov.au
Low Income Household Rebate is $285 (excluding GST) per annum. This rebate is applied as a daily amount on your electricity bill.
The Medical Energy Rebate
The Medical Energy Rebate helps eligible NSW households cover the costs of their energy bills.
The rebate is for NSW customers who have an inability to self-regulate body temperature when exposed to extreme hot or cold environmental temperatures. To be eligible for the rebate, you’ll need to have a diagnosis that you’re unable to self-regulate your body temperature.
To be eligible, the account holder must hold one of the following concession cards:

  • Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card
  • Centrelink Health Care Card
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Concession Card
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card (for recipients of War Widow or War Widower, Totally and Permanently Incapacitated rate or Extreme Disablement Adjustment rate pensions

What you’ll need

  • the PDF form – ‘​NSW Medical Energy Rebate Application Form Retail Customers’
  • your pensioner concession, health care or gold card details
  • your personal and contact details
  • your medical practitioner to complete and sign the relevant sections of the form
  • your energy account details.

How to apply

  1. Check the eligibility requirements.
  2. Select the ‘Download PDF form’ button.
  3. Complete the form.
  4. Ask your medical practitioner (GP or specialist) to complete and sign the relevant sections of the form.
  5. Send your completed form directly to your energy retailer.

Family Energy Rebate

The family energy rebate helps low income families pay their energy bills. To be eligible for the NSW Family Energy Rebate, you must:

  • Be eligible for the Federal Government’s Family Tax Benefit A or B at any time during the previous financial year, and have received a relevant payment; and
  • Be a customer of an electricity retailer, or a long-term resident of a caravan or mobile home park, whose name appears on the electricity account for supply to her/his principal place of residence.

If you’re eligible for this rebate, you can apply online at www.nsw.gov.au

Life Support Rebate

Service Price
Positive Airways Pressure (PAP) Device $0.36 for less than 24 hour usage
$0.71 for 24 hour usage
Enteral feeding pump $0.44
Phototherapy equipment $3.68
Home Dialysis $1.54
Ventilators $3.68
Oxygen Concentrators $1.85 for less than 24 hour usage
$3.11 for 24 hour usage
Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) pump $0.84
External Heart Pump $0.11
Power wheelchairs for quadriplegics $0.30

Eligible South Australians on low or fixed incomes can apply for help with the cost of energy bills for their principal place of residence.
The Medical Heating and Cooling Concession assists South Australians on a fixed or low income who have a clinically verified medical condition which requires the frequent use of heating or cooling in the home to prevent the severe worsening of their condition.
The concession amount is indexed each financial year. For 2020/21, you may be eligible to receive up to $231.41 to cover energy payments, including fuels used to generate energy (eg LPG bottled gas and petrol).

Eligibility

Who should apply

You must:

  • live at the property
  • be listed as an account holder on your energy bill
  • hold an eligible concession card or receive an eligible Centrelink payment
  • not be living with anyone who has an income of more than $3,000 per year, unless they either:
    • get an allowance from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
    • are your spouse, domestic partner or dependent.

Eligible cards

  • Pensioner Concession Card
  • Gold Card from the Department of Veteran’ Affairs
    • Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI)
    • Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA)
    • War Widow
    • Issued to a person with 80 or more overall impairment points under Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004
  • Low Income Health Care Card
  • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card


Eligible Centrelink payments

  • JobSeeker Payment
  • Widow Allowance
  • Youth Allowance
  • Partner Allowance
  • Parenting Payment
  • Special Benefit
  • Community Development Project (CDP)
  • New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS)
  • ABSTUDY
  • Austudy
  • Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
  • War widow pension under legislation of the United Kingdom or New Zealand.

Email: concessions@sa.gov.au
For more information about the Medical Heating and Cooling Concession in South Australia click here.
Or visit https://www.sa.gov.au for more information about South Australian concession eligibility.
To contact Centrelink – call the myGov helpdesk on 13 23 07, select Option 1.

SA Emergency Electricity Payment Scheme (EEPS)

The Emergency Electricity Payment Scheme (EEPS) is to provide assistance to South Australian households in a financial crisis who are unable to pay their electricity debt.
A payment of up to $400 is provided to low-income households who have been disconnected or are at risk of disconnection.
Applicants are entitled to apply for an emergency electricity payment once every three years after the date of their last EEPS payment.
Applications must be completed with the assistance of a financial counsellor.
For all available SA Financial Counsellors – https://www.safca.org.au/

Eligibility
Rebates are available to people who have any of the below:
  • Pensioner Concession Card
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card (and receive the War Widow/er Pension or special rate TPI Pension)
  • Queensland Seniors Card
  • Asylum seeker status—residents will need to provide their ImmiCard details (Electricity Rebate only).

To be eligible, you must be the electricity account holder and also live alone or share your principal place of residence with (only) any of the below:

  • their spouse
  • other people who hold a Pensioner Concession Card or Queensland Seniors Card
  • other people wholly dependent on them
  • other people who receive an income support payment from Centrelink, the Family Assistance Office, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and who do not pay rent
  • other people who live with the cardholder to provide care and assistance, and who do not pay rent.

If you live in caravan park or multi-unit residential building (e.g. apartment), you must also show that your electricity or reticulated natural gas is paid on the basis of metered consumption. If you have a Commonwealth Health Care Card, contact the card issuer for information on eligibility.
How to apply for the rebate
Gas
Contact us on 133 456. You will need to provide certain details, so have copies of your bills and concession card handy so you can verify your eligibility. Rebates are automatically deducted from your bill.
Electricity
Contact us on 133 456. You can apply over the phone. You will need to provide certain details and have copies of your bills and concession card handy so you can verify your eligibility. Rebates are automatically deducted from your bill.
Or visit the below link for more information about Queensland concession eligibility
https://www.qld.gov.au/community/cost-of-living-support/concessions/energy-concessions